This invention relates to apparatus for suspending a load, in particular a harnessed person or article, from a suspension wire or cable and is more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with such apparatus for use in theatrical or stage work where a person needs to be suspended, for example, in theatrical xe2x80x9cflyingxe2x80x9d.
It is known to suspend performers from overhead wires or cables by means of a shoulder or body harness shackled to the end of a support wire or cable. Such known flying equipment has the capability to rotate a person through 180xc2x0 or more, to move a person around a stage area and to lift and lower the person. A harness plate for this purpose is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,587 to Foy, and is intended to be securely attached to a harness. The harness plate comprises a toroidal passage open at one end facing an upper edge of the plate, a shackle staple having a pair of upwardly extending arms with opposed apertures, and a toroidal shackle pin resiliently mounted by a compression spring in the passage and biased such that the free end of the pin passes through the arm apertures. A finger-like projection on the pin is operated to retract the pin into the passage against the action of the spring and to allow the eye of a suspension cable to be positioned between the arms. When the pin is released, its free end passes through the eye and thereby secures the harness plate to the cable. In order to remove the harness plate from the cable, the pin is again retracted against the action of the spring. However, this method of attaching and detaching the cable may not be particularly easy to carry out quickly and unobtrusively by the performer during an on-stage performance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for suspending a load, in particular a person, which enables quick and discreet attachment and detachment of the suspension cable.
According to the invention there is provided apparatus for suspending a load, in particular a person, from a cable, said apparatus comprising:
a harness plate adapted to be secured to a harness for supporting said load, said harness plate including a locking mechanism comprising at least one locking member, a through-aperture defined by said at least one locking member, resilient means arranged to resiliently bias said at least one locking member to substantially close said through-aperture, and user-operable means arranged to move said at least one locking member against the bias of said resilient means; and cable attachment means having a first part adapted to be attached to said cable and a second part shaped for insertion into said through-aperture and retention therein by said at least one locking member,
whereby insertion of said second part initially moves said at least one locking member against the bias of said resilient means to open said through-aperture and then permits said resilient means to return said at least one locking member so as to securely retain said cable attachment means in said through-aperture, said cable attachment means being releasable from said through-aperture by said user-operable means.
In a preferred embodiment, the locking mechanism comprises two locking members adapted to move towards and away from each other and being spaced apart so as to form said through-aperture therebetween. The resilient means may be adapted to bias said locking members towards each other to substantially close said through-aperture and said user-operable means may be adapted to move said locking members apart against the bias of said resilient means. The locking members are preferably located on first and second sides of said through-aperture respectively, and the user-operable means may comprise slidable members connected to said locking members and extending outwardly with respect to said plate, the slidable member connected to the locking member on said first side extending outwardly on said second side and the slidable member connected to the locking member on said second side extending outwardly on said first side, such that sliding said slidable members towards each other causes said locking members to move away from each other and thereby to open said through-aperture.
The second part of said cable attachment means may have a substantially triangular head and a neck such that said head can be inserted through said through-aperture and said locking members are resiliently biased to engage against said neck to securely retain said cable attachment means.
Preferably, the harness plate has a rotationally symmetrical shape and is adapted to be rotatably mounted on a harness, and means are provided to inhibit rotation of said plate unless said cable-attachment means are inserted through said through-aperture. The means to inhibit rotation may comprise a stop member including resilient means biased to inhibit said rotation, said cable attachment means being adapted to move said stop member against the bias of said resilient means to release said plate for rotation.
In one example, two of said locking mechanisms are provided on opposite sides of said harness plate, such that two loads can be suspended one above the other.